The Lover

by Amanda Brookfield

When Frances married her husband the ten year age gap seemed nothing to worry about. But twenty years later Paul's death in middle age leaves Frances a widow at only forty-three. One life is over. Is there a new one about to begin? It seems so when, as her grief begins to lessen, she meets Daniel, a university lecturer who clearly adores her. But Daniel is only twenty-six, and this time the age gap is bringing with it all sorts of problems...

Genres: Romance, Fiction

304 pages, Paperback

First published July 20, 2000

About the author

I have two elder sisters and a twin brother who is much quieter than me and with much longer legs. Our Dad was in the Foreign Office so we spent our childhood living in far-flung places like Shanghai and Stockholm. In fact, until the age of 32 I had never spent more than 3 years under the same roof...it's left me with the opposite of 'itchy feet'.
I fell in love with writing aged 11 when my class was asked to write a ghost story - that thrill of being able to make it all up! Studying English at Oxford was a dream come true, but then real life got in the way and I started a career in advertising, climbing the greasy pole for four years, helping sell washing powder and cold remedies.
Aged 25, I got the chance to go and live in Argentina. I left advertising, set myself up as a freelance journalist and wrote my first novel,'Alice Alone' which was published (to critical acclaim!) in 1989. I haven't stopped,or looked back, since.
I am now published by Penguin. At the last count I had produced fifteen novels and two sons. There will be no more offspring, but lots of books I hope.

Reviews

[Susannah · Rating 1 out of 5]

Well, this was bad. How to describe this? It was like reading a novel set in the Twilight Zone or in a parallel universe where aliens who have learnt how to be human from reading Victorian melodrama are posing as humans. At first I thought possibly that this could be improved with some changes to narrative form or structure or changes of focus and points of view, however the writing is so bad I don't think this would help.

The writing is very bad, overwritten, purple prose, so much info dumping and telling not showing, not leaving anything to the reader's imagination and most of the info that was dumped was not needed, it was just padding. The dialogue was cringe inducing and words and phases were used that are just not believable e.g calling things 'objects' and people 'creatures' (this happened numerous times), also so many characters who were not related to each other used the phase 'and so on' in dialogue. Dialogue is important for characterisation and people speak differently.

The 'plot' was melodramatic and problems were solved too easily such as the daughter Daisy just leaving her abusive partner which was easy because she 'showed her inner strength' so all of a sudden he was not dangerous anymore and she could just move on to another relationship without any trauma at all. The pregancy scare was ridiculous as was the reaction of the characters to Felix having a sexual relationship with an underage girl which they all seemed to think was ok! The creepy man who lived with his mother being a Paedophile was a cliché and this was also brushed over.

The only real plot is the relationship of Frances with a man 17 years younger than her who acts like a teenager having a tantrum most of the time, but Frances is supposed to be grateful that he is even attacted to her as she is 43, there is some misogyny in this which is suprising as it is written by a woman, it is said more than once that Frances needs a man to 'define her' or something like this and some people are impressed or jealous because he is younger than her and she managed to attract him. Words like 'humiliation' and 'mortification' are used to describe her ageing and it is supposed to be romantic that he is not physically appalled by her. Also Daniel does not respect Frances' boundaries which again is supposed to be romantic but is really not. Also could do without all of the pretentious stuff about Daniel's intellect because he likes art and obscure French films, Frances seems vacuous and needs everything explaining to her by him.

[Olga Chronics · Rating 3 out of 5]

I enjoyed reading this book. It was a little predictable, but I really was invested in the characters and in the outcome of their problems and situations. I thought it was refreshingly straightforward, none of that chick-lit way of describing things, not so dramatic. It was realistic, and that’s what made me care about the characters and their lives - it was relatable in the sense that I thought that these events could actually turn out to happen in real life (or at least that their opinions/views on the problems were realistic). It was a good read. I wouldn’t say it was the best most exciting story ever, but really enjoyable :)

[Farel Goulborn · Rating 5 out of 5]

I loved this book. It is my second Amanda Brookfield read and I can’t wait to read more. She has the real ability to set the scene without being long winded or tedious. It is always easy to feel completely in the moment through her clever and beautiful prose. Her storylines are also very personal and easy to relate to. I can’t wait to read more. Have just started The Family and loving it already.

[Mrs Elaine Barron · Rating 5 out of 5]

Read in a day

I couldn't put it down, lifestyle storyline& characters, I have a friend who has just lost her husband so will be becoming to her, in the hope that it will help her in her grief,although might make her laugh about the younger lover concept, this is the 2nd book of this author's(family man) I have now downloaded more ~ wonderful work

[Billie-jo · Rating 3 out of 5]

3.5 was hard to get into at first but started to enjoy it as i kept reading. Not my normal type of book. But wanted to try something different

[Priscilla Pink · Rating 4 out of 5]

About this booj.

The beginning was slow to get going. Picked up in the middle. A sustainable book. Not sure about reading another by this author.

[Marie Chapman · Rating 1 out of 5]

DNF

I couldn’t get past the first 10%!
Full, insufferable characters and too many words that distract from building a connection with the characters.

[Bella Sky · Rating 5 out of 5]

Loved and enjoyed reading it, reminiscent of Lionel Shriver.

[Jane Gregg · Rating 3 out of 5]

Consistent domestic fiction.

[Karschtl · Rating 3 out of 5]

Francis is widowed at a relatively young age - 43 years. Her kids are just moving out of the house, making it even harder for her to cope with the sudden loss of her husband. But as the saying goes "time heals all wounds", she eventually comes to terms with it and tries to continue with her life. Taking on a part-time job, pursuing her favorite past time - painting - and even meeting with a man.
This new man is spicing up her life again, but he is also 17 year her junior and therefore could be almost her child!

Although this book is more a drama than a romantic 'comedy' or even 'chick-lit' I would say it is a rather easy read. There are also several other problems thrown in: physical abuse, more deaths, teenage pregnancy etc. But none of this told in a too dramatic style so that you get depressed just reading about it. Which is fine for me, I wanted a light read for the gym. For this it was perfect and I could follow the story even though I only read about 15-20 pages every other day or so.

Only thing I didn't understand: when the Taverners learn of the sexual relationship of Felix (18, later 19 years old) and their underaged daugther Sally (15, later 16) they don't react angry in any way?? I don't really know about the legal rules in this field, if a 18 year old sleeping with a girl of 15 can be tried in court, or only if she's younger than 14... But I'm sure that parents normally wouldn't be so relaxed about it.

The style of the book reminded me a bit of Joanna Trollope. I think it could have also something written by her. But then again, I've so far only read 2 books by Trollope and are by now means an expert there.

[Bekki Pate · Rating 3 out of 5]

SPOILER ALERT!!!!
This book was a quick, easy, enjoyable read with some lovely characters. However, I was sorely disappointed by the ending - and these are my reasons why:
- The main protagonist tragically loses her husband aged only forty-three, and after some soul-searching, she meets a man almost half her age and they embark on an affair. I don't have an issue with this at all and in fact I thought it was an essential stepping-stone to gain back her sense of self and confidence.
- The man soon became very irritating - acting like a teenager rather than the 26 year old that he was - he was selfish, rude, and made her feel guilty for such things as not wanting to tell her children straight away that they were in a relationship - their dad had just died so this wasn't too much to ask. But he butted his way through anyway, determined to have his own way.
- She leaves him which I applauded, and just as I thought she was beginning to learn who she was and get back to being a mother - something she neglected a bit whilst she was with this man - she ends up accepting him back into her life! Why??? In the end they are back together and suddenly everyone likes him - I was appalled.

Anyway, this was a really well written and interesting book, and if you don't mind the ending then you will find that it is one to recommend to friends. I personally just couldn't stomach the fact that they ended up back together.

[Sue · Rating 4 out of 5]

I was surprised at how much I liked this book. Frances, a contented mother of two young adults, has her life shattered by the sudden death of her husband. This happens before the story begins, and the first half of the book gives a sensitive account of her journey through grief, and the struggles she has to relate to her friends and acquaintances as a widowed woman.

Then she meets someone new... and the rest of the book explores her growing awareness of herself, and various issues that arise. The writing is good, the characters realistic, the story interesting, and the resolution satisfying, despite a few shocks along the way. A little more bad language than I'm comfortable with, but still, four and a half stars for this.

[Harry Tomos · Rating 5 out of 5]

Always enjoy reading Amanda Brookfield, I like the characters interacting and a little misdirection and some grey areas so you can decide who was the hero, I guess I find a sense of realism because the endings including this one are where it almost comes good for everyone but not quite....I like the dynamic between Alistair and Libby and Frances woman moments whilst she looks in the mirror contemplating the age difference and Daniel's retort of but you might think me immature which as females we forget until it bites us of course....yes an enjoyable read..

[Alayne · Rating 5 out of 5]

This was a great story with lots of good characterisation, and a really good look at grief and the difficulties friends and family have in knowing how to help. A lovely love story.

[Petula Darling]

No complaints about the writing other than it was too boring for my attention span.